Let's puck our limits!

5. The blades are too short!

Summary:

Noelle puts on hockey skates for the first time and Asta gives her lessons.

Notes:

No illustration this time guys :(
It's been forever since I posted the last chapter (due to burnout and personal reasons), so when I finally finished it yesterday I decided to post it even without an art.
I hope you enjoy anyway <3

Chapter Text

It was a really good practice. Noelle was actually proud of herself. She landed a double lutz and completed a sequence she has been working on for a while. How nice it was for her skating to genuinely feel good. Noelle was almost sad to end her training, but just almost, because as much as she would not admit it she was excited to try hockey later.

Swiftly she glided off the side of the rink where she was hopping around, avoiding any stray pucks that could come from the Bulls trying to get shots on Yami. This time they were practicing a quick pass and score between one another, which involved circling the net.

When Vanessa saw her get off the ice, she announced something to the hockey players and made her way to the bench as well. Nero and Charmy were as usually present, but for some reason Grey was not with them. Noelle did not notice when the blue haired girl disappeared.

"Okay girls, we're off to the locker room," Vanessa stated.

Charmy excitedly jumped off the bench and Nero quietly followed. The girls led the two skaters and opened the door to the women's locker room. Besides Noelle and Vanessa's usual bags, the assistant coach brought a massive hockey bag, which made the figure skater wonder if the woman had ever tried playing goalie. However inside there were normal pads. The sizes and the condition of equipment greatly differed. Probably Vanessa pulled them out from the bottom of her basement to try to lend Noelle what she needed and she had to stumble on her childhood gear. Vanessa knelt down and started picking through her stuff, while Noelle looked at the other two.

Charmy also brought a bag with her. She opened it and pulled out a pair of hockey skates, knee pads, gloves and a helmet. How would she put it on her bun was a mystery, or maybe Noelle would see a hair down Charmy. She did not ponder on that for long, because her gaze switched to Nero. Noelle expected the girl to pull out her own hockey set, but instead the red eyed girl fished out a pair of figure skates. They were dark blue, made out of soft leather. Noelle could tell right away they were good quality.

Nero noticed her stare.

"They were a gift from Lumiere," she shrugged, but could not hide a soft smile. "I don't know how to do jumps or any other tricks your brother can perform perfectly, but I like skating with my prince."

"Lumiere is joining us as well?" Noelle asked and Nero nodded. She did not expand on the conversation.

Fortunately Noelle was not left in an awkward silence, because Vanessa brightened up. She picked up a pair of awfully plum hockey skates and gave them to Noelle.

"Try these on," she winked. "You have dainty feet sweetie, but they should be fine."

Noelle grimaced as she watched the skates. They were not made of leather, the ankle was lower, the tongue seemed loose and most importantly they did not have the toe pick. The blade was shorter. It ended right with the boot. Noelle had never tried hockey skates before. She was just as curious as she was dismayed.